House vs apartment

Prof.Badass · 20-09-2009 5:53pm #1

Pretend you live in dublin and have a job in the city centre. The year is 2025 and you cannot leave your job. You need somewhere to live and are faced with two choices;

1. Live in a high rise apartment complex within walking distance from the city centre or,

2. Spend 3 hours in a car every day travelling to and from the arse end of meath.

What do you pick?

MagicMarker · 20-09-2009 5:55pm

Well that's a toughie.

cruiser178 · 20-09-2009 5:55pm

pretend...you very funny

Pint · 20-09-2009 5:55pm

Both

An apartment for commuting during the week and a house to retire to at the weekends.

Biggins · 20-09-2009 5:59pm

vinylmesh wrote: »

Pretend you live in dublin and have a job in the city centre. The year is 2025 and you cannot leave your job. You need somewhere to live and are faced with two choices;

1. Live in a high rise apartment complex within walking distance from the city centre or,

2. Spend 3 hours in a car every day travelling to and from the arse end of meath.

What do you pick?

Your in a tough one!

You can work all day and rest, then get up and do the same thing again for the next four days.
Day 6 and 7 you will just collapse and try to recover your energy anyway.

Do this for 25/30 years, what are you left with mortgage-wise?
An apartment in Dublin or a home in the country which either - after its hopefully paid off, you can give two fingers to the Dublin job?

Which one do you consider working towards?
Either way, you will be doing the same hours at work, the extra hours there and forth might be considered a form of further payment for the better of the two situations.

Can you stay with a friend sometimes in Dublin and share?

Cianos · 20-09-2009 5:59pm

Medium density housing is one of the major curses of the Irish economy.

Abi · 20-09-2009 6:04pm

vinylmesh wrote: »

Pretend you live in dublin and have a job in the city centre. The year is 2025 and you cannot leave your job. You need somewhere to live and are faced with two choices;

1. Live in a high rise apartment complex within walking distance from the city centre or,

2. Spend 3 hours in a car every day travelling to and from the arse end of meath.

What do you pick?

How about an apartment in the arse end of Meath?

Prof.Badass · 20-09-2009 6:09pm

Biggins wrote: »

Can you stay with a friend sometimes in Dublin and share?

No, you are in a long term relationship and want to live with your partner. Children are likely to involved somewhere down the line.

Also, I probably should have made it clearer. Option 2 in the poll is the house with the hour and a half commute.

Euro_Kraut · 20-09-2009 6:13pm

If you want kids and a dog it an apartment is going to be a bit cramped.

If kids might be coming down the line i'd say: Lease an apartment and start to think about buying a house in a couple of years for when kids come along.

sidneykidney · 20-09-2009 6:13pm

It would depend on personal circumstances tbh,married,kids etc. But in saying that i couldnt see myself living in an appartment,i prefer my own house,dunno why maybe cause it was drilled into me by my mum since i was younger.

REAL LIFE HOOD · 20-09-2009 6:14pm

dublin has lots of space it would never be high density.

sidneykidney · 20-09-2009 6:21pm

REAL LIFE HOOD wrote: »

dublin has lots of space it would never be high density.

Yep Dublin has sooooo much space,thats why people commute every day from meath,louth,wicklow,wexford etc. Theres not that much space left now thanks to the urban sprawl that developers caused during the "celtic pussycat"

Prof.Badass · 20-09-2009 6:26pm

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

If you want kids and a dog it an apartment is going to be a bit cramped.

If kids might be coming down the line i'd say: Lease an apartment and start to think about buying a house in a couple of years for when kids come along.

Even with the huge commute?

It's a 3 bedroom apartment of a suprisingly decent size (not huge, but not cramped either).
Is it really that bad to raise kids in an apartment?

How far out would the house have to be for you to choose an apartment?

stovelid · 20-09-2009 6:33pm

Off-topic I know cos the OP is about a hypothetical city centre job, but why does all talk of long commutes always presume that everyone commutes long distances to work in the city centre from the suburbs. I'm in my third job since 2001 and none of them have involved a straight outward or inward journey from the city.

On-topic: I'm all for high-rise living but not in the miserable dog-boxes that pass for apartments here. I also prefer living a bit further out so you have a mix of quiet living with space, but can still socialize and shop in the city.

af_thefragile · 20-09-2009 6:54pm

Its about time Dublin starts developing high rise buildings...

20-09-2009 8:20pm

Cianos wrote: »

Medium density housing in the wrong place is one of the major curses of the Irish economy.

fyp

Properly designed suburbs with integrated transport to the city centre & places of work would help.

lostexpectation · 20-09-2009 8:24pm

whats a proper city, all you highrise lovers ... one word nama, the developers fuked it up themselves

do you guys want to live here

http://vice.typepad.com/vice_magazine/2009/04/japan-my-trip-to-battleship-island.html

bladerunner was **** hole not an aspiration

maggiemae · 20-09-2009 8:30pm

Apartments have a better sense of security than houses out in the country.
Houses in the country will give you space to have a garden.
You have to maintain the garden
You can weigh the pros and cons for ages but at the end of the day if you have a family they will have a better lifestyle in the country house than they will in the city center apartment.
You commuting though will mean that you will never personally be able to enjoy the benefits of the countryside.. Your potential kids will enjoy it though when they aren't missing their parents

OneArt · 20-09-2009 8:32pm

GTFO of Ireland is what I'd do. Especially in 2025...

Seriously though I'd pick the apartment because Dublin's the only place in Ireland thats decent enough to live in. Even then it's a kip...

20-09-2009 8:32pm

vinylmesh wrote: »

Even with the huge commute?

It's a 3 bedroom apartment of a suprisingly decent size (not huge, but not cramped either).
Is it really that bad to raise kids in an apartment?

How far out would the house have to be for you to choose an apartment?

YES YES YES

I live in a very large 3 bed apartment. It's lovely. There's nothing about it not to like. The dart is 150 metres away. There are only 11 apartments in the block.

My 5 year old daughter has noone to play with. There is a communal garden but it's not like there are other kids in it. I hate it for her. It's horrible. Seeing as it's not worth what I paid for it though I won't be selling. Instead, I'm going to rent it out after christmas and rent a nice house somewhere nearby. It's not fair to raise kids in apartments.

wudangclan · 20-09-2009 8:46pm

an apartment,please.
city centre.
i don't want to spend 2-3 hours everyday in traffic.
life's too short.

Riddle101 · 20-09-2009 9:07pm

Ignoring the convience of having an apartment in Dublin City Centre. A house would be too big for little old me:D a nice apartment is all I want. But then again, the OP never mentioned what conditions the house or apartment would be in, so for all we know we could proberly be put into a dump of a place. But nonetheless an apartment would be fine.

Prof.Badass · 21-09-2009 4:40pm

Deleted User wrote: »

YES YES YES

I live in a very large 3 bed apartment. It's lovely. There's nothing about it not to like. The dart is 150 metres away. There are only 11 apartments in the block.

My 5 year old daughter has noone to play with. There is a communal garden but it's not like there are other kids in it. I hate it for her. It's horrible. Seeing as it's not worth what I paid for it though I won't be selling. Instead, I'm going to rent it out after christmas and rent a nice house somewhere nearby. It's not fair to raise kids in apartments.

Surely if other people were doing it then your daughter would have someone to play with?

Joey the lips · 21-09-2009 4:46pm

I come from flats..... Need i say more! If i had a choice i would always say a house but I can see your point.

To save 3 hours I would buy an apt and spend the 3 hours bringing the 6 kids that p1ss on the landing to the park:rolleyes:

af_thefragile · 21-09-2009 4:55pm

I'ld feel more safe living in a decent apartment (with security and all) with many people around me than living all alone in a house where anyone can break in anytime and no one would really care!

Also I don't need too big a place to live. A 2 bed apartment would be perfect for me. But i'ld like it to be clean, modern and with a decent view!

Novella · 21-09-2009 5:46pm

Commuting is awful. Definitely apartment.

Senna · 21-09-2009 6:03pm

I couldn't live with either, if thats the choices.

To the person who said they couldn't live in the countryside, were anyone could just break in, have you ever lived somewhere rural? The biggest reason is the neighbors, they keep an eye on my house, as do i for theirs, I've lived in a 7 story apartment block and i would never do it again, i didn't feel safer at all. If i was still there today i'd blow my brains out.

Oliver1985 · 21-09-2009 6:05pm

It would have to be the appartment for sure!! I did 3 hours commuting for 2 years in a job 5 days a week! Well in good starting out but it gets a major pain now!!!

21-09-2009 6:15pm

Deleted User wrote: »

YES YES YES

I live in a very large 3 bed apartment. It's lovely. There's nothing about it not to like. The dart is 150 metres away. There are only 11 apartments in the block.

My 5 year old daughter has noone to play with. There is a communal garden but it's not like there are other kids in it. I hate it for her. It's horrible. Seeing as it's not worth what I paid for it though I won't be selling. Instead, I'm going to rent it out after christmas and rent a nice house somewhere nearby. It's not fair to raise kids in apartments.

You know, I was brought up in a lovely big house with a huge garden with loads of space to play. And I hated it. It was a typical house in the country, quite isolated, no next door neighbours, nobody to play with. As a teenager it was even worse - hardly any buses so I had no independence at all, I was stuck in the house every summer with nothing to do. It had a really detrimental effect on my social skills and confidence. I would have absolutely loved to have lived in a city, on an estate or in a block with loads of other people, to have been able to get the DART or bus into town whenever I wanted. I know not everyone in a house is this isolated and that many live in estates, but it's not as simple as saying houses are better than apartments.

Riddle101 · 21-09-2009 7:11pm

af_thefragile wrote: »

I'ld feel more safe living in a decent apartment (with security and all) with many people around me than living all alone in a house where anyone can break in anytime and no one would really care!

Also I don't need too big a place to live. A 2 bed apartment would be perfect for me. But i'ld like it to be clean, modern and with a decent view!

whoa whoa slow down, an apartment with two beds AND a decent view. Someone wants to live on the wildside;)

Seriously though a nice apartment with a safe enviornment would be nice

That_Guy · 21-09-2009 7:24pm

In 2025 we'll all be living in hover houses.

AckwelFoley · 21-09-2009 7:25pm

i have one of each.

im a snob

donmeister · 21-09-2009 7:31pm

Mud Hut @ St. Stephens Green?

Oliver1985 · 21-09-2009 7:31pm

That_Guy wrote: »

In 2025 we'll all be living in hover houses.

Or we could all be living under the sea!!!:D

21-09-2009 7:32pm

vinylmesh wrote: »

Surely if other people were doing it then your daughter would have someone to play with?

If....

21-09-2009 7:42pm

[quote=[Deleted User];62208262]You know, I was brought up in a lovely big house with a huge garden with loads of space to play. And I hated it. It was a typical house in the country, quite isolated, no next door neighbours, nobody to play with. As a teenager it was even worse - hardly any buses so I had no independence at all, I was stuck in the house every summer with nothing to do. It had a really detrimental effect on my social skills and confidence. I would have absolutely loved to have lived in a city, on an estate or in a block with loads of other people, to have been able to get the DART or bus into town whenever I wanted. I know not everyone in a house is this isolated and that many live in estates, but it's not as simple as saying houses are better than apartments.[/QUOTE]

Well I think my daughter is so isolated here that at least a house in the middle of the country would mean fresh air and more space to place, a dog as a friend even but yes, I do see your point and I do mean that I would prefer to live in a nice housing estate.

I've done both though, the first house I bought was in wicklow but we couldn't wait to get back to Dublin because of the commute, which is why we bought the apartment, it's within a few mins drive of where we're orginally from and it is, as I mentioned, a really lovely apartment but it's not the same as a house. It really isn't.

If it was just myself and my husband, no kids, then the apartment would be perfect. But I do think it's no place to raise kids.

Rondolfus · 21-09-2009 7:52pm

Something tells me the OP bought an apartment at the height of the boom and now realises it'll be 2025 before anyone will even think about buying it.

Fact of the matter is, a house is a decent location will always beat an apartment in a decent location.

If you mean by "proper city", a city in which everybody lives in idenitcal boxes in buildings that look like womens prisons... then yes I'd rather die than see Dublin become a "proper city".

House vs apartment

high rise living...... 78 votes

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